WikiLeaks To Release Boatload Syria Files, E-mails From 2006 to 2012

WikiLeaks, the international not-for-profit organization responsible for publishing documents from whistleblowers, acquired more than 2.4 million e-mails between Syrian politicians, government officials and companies dating from August 2006 until March 2012. The group said that they will soon be releasing the said e-mails soon.

In a news conference from London, project analyst Sarah Harrison stated that they’ve gathered a total of 2,434,899 emails from 680 Syrian-related entities and domains. The said e-mails allegedly contain information from the Syrian Ministries of Presidential Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Information and Transport and Culture.

“The Syria Files shine a light on the inner workings of the Syrian government and economy, but they also reveal how the West and Western companies say one thing and do another,” Harrison said. It was also added that information gathered from the acquired e-mails would not only embarrass President Bashar al-Assad of Syria but also adversaries of Mr. Assad and his ruling Baath Party.

Harrison did not disclose any information as to how the e-mails were obtained and not every single e-mail was verified but the group is confident that the vast majority of what they acquired are factual.

As for the file hosting part of their project, WikiLeaks built a general-purpose, multi-language political data-mining system that can handle massive databases such as the Syria Files. The e-mail database is comprised of e-mails in various languages such as German, Spanish, and French which they provide translation for, and about 400,000 e-mails in Arabic, and 68,000 in Russian. They’re still working on additional features to further enhance their system.,Wikileaks provides English, German, Spanish and French translation. Wikileaks is working on additional features to enhance the system, Harrison added.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange did not attend the news conference as he is currently avoiding being extradited from the UK to Sweden because of sexual assault allegations. He is currently out on bail and on June 19, Assange filed political asylum in Ecuador.

WikiLeaks has been labeled as a terrorist organization and some even threatened to assassinate Assange.